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McPEEK, Helen B.

Friday, January 14, 2005

EWING, N.J. -- Helen Buckman McPeek, 93, of Ewing, died quietly in her sleep Friday, Jan. 14, 2005, at Chandler Hall in Newtown, PA. Mrs. McPeek was an active member of the P.E.O. organization, which supports education.

In 1993, Helen was honored by the New Jersey chapters of the P.E.O. for 50 years of service to philanthropy and education. She was a lifelong member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

She was also a longtime American Girl Scout volunteer and board member. In the late 1950's and early 1960's she became the American Girl Scout Camp Director in Arkansas.

Mrs. McPeek attended Oklahoma College for Women and the University of Oklahoma.

After university she taught in the Crescent Elementary School.

In 1932, Mrs. McPeek was married to the late William Miles McPeek, a United States Department of Agriculture statistician and economist who helped forecast agricultural production in the United States and around the world.

In 1962, Mr. and Mrs. McPeek moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to assist the Argentine government in reforming their national census.

She served as the American National Girl Scouts representative to the Argentine Girl Scout movement, and founded a school for Argentine government officials taking up assignments in the United States.

She taught courses in American history, government, society and customs to acclimate these long-term visitors to the American way of life.

After retirement, Mr. and Mrs. McPeek moved to Pennington. Mrs. McPeek is survived by three children, J. Buckman McPeek of Chestnut Hill, MA, an anesthesiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School; W. Miles McPeek Jr. of Ewing, a specialist in educational testing, retired from Educational Testing Service where his wife, the psychologist Carol A. Dwyer, is a Distinguished Presidential Appointee; and Mary Helen McPeek Callahan, an administrator of the College of Human Service, Education and Public Policy at the University of Delaware, where her husband Raymond is a professor of history.

She is also survived by seven grandchildren, Alexandra McPeek of Chestnut Hills, MA; Douglas McPeek of Chestnut Hill, MA; Mary Sara McPeek of Chicago; Robert Miles McPeek of San Francisco; Carol-Anne St. Leger McPeek of Ewing and Northampton, MA; Sarah Callahan of Washington, DC; and Brian Callahan of Newark, DE.

She is also survived by four great-grandchildren, Helena and Fiona Abney-McPeek of Chicago, and Aiden and Shawn Callahan of Elkton. Funeral services will be private and under the direction of Buklad Memorial Home, 2141 S. Broad St., Hamilton.